Sony need to fire their web development team

[baboon_overlord]

In addition to making their entire web-based store a complete and utter broken mess (in a move no-one asked for) the geniuses have now randomly decided that anything outside of the Store (my.playstation.com, email links, PS+ extensions, support chat) must now automatically redirect to the country site for your IP address.

 

As I live in France, that means I cannot use my.playstation.com at all (even if I wanted to use the site in French, which is doable, I can't login because my credentials aren't set up for that sub-region).

 

Just got an email with next month's PS+ games - Control, Concrete Genie, Destruction Allstars. Click link. Nope! French version of course dummy!

 

Tried to renew PS+ last night. Redirected to French version of the site. Impossible to renew via web.Had to do it via the PS4 instead.

 

Tried to get hold of customer support via live chat to tell them this is stupid (yes I know, that's not going to do anything) but (and you will never guess what happened next) - You cannot use this support chat because you are outside the UK and Ireland!

 

If I wasn't logged in and was unable to use the UK store, then that would be one thing. But I'm literally logged in. And can use the UK web-store no issues (for now).

 

What are Sony trying to do here? Are they just complete brain dead idiots? Do they suddenly think that no-one ever leaves their country and goes somewhere else? This was never a problem before. I do not have this issue with any other website (except maybe some crappy news sites but who cares about them anyway).

 

Seriously Sony, sought this out. Either your IT team is completely incompetent or they don't care. I don't actually know which is worse.

 

INB4 use a VPN. Yes, I would love to spend 25-50 euros a year for a UK IP address for the sole purpose of using the PS website with no problems like I have done for the past several years....  

[Quink666]

Noticed that myself. My issue is small but annoying as I’ve always had the store language set to English instead of Swedish but now the web store is always in Swedish instead. Shitty part about the web browser store is that no game has screenshots or trailer when you go to that games page. The PS app show them but not the browser. I actually skipped buying games because I could not find and gameplay footage of it in the store. 
 

Try using the PS app instead of the browser store. Might fix your issues. 
 

Edit: Btw you can change region on the bottom of the store page in the browser. 

Edited January 28, 2021 by Quink666

[Helyx]

They should hire @HusKy & @NathanielJohn.

[Masamune]

I agree the store & even the app are pretty much junk now. ? There are plenty of free VPNs out there though that you can use (I use Proton myself, free version gives you access to US, Netherlands, & Japan servers), even sites like https://www.4everproxy.com/ may work too if you don't want to go the full VPN route, just make sure to clear your cookies/cache before trying one of them or it may still send you to the wrong region.

[BestUsername----]

I knew that the Playstations websites were fucked as soon as I couldn't see what my friends were up to on MyPlaystations homepage. (This was even before the webpage store update) And I'm damn well not going to goin to the What's New section on my console. Don't know why they got rid of that page, but that was a beyond idiotic move in my opinion.

[sword_of_omens]

15 minutes ago, Quink666 said:

Shitty part about the web browser store is that no game has screenshots or trailer when you go to that games page. I actually skipped buying games because I could not find and gameplay footage of it in the store. 

 

^THIS.....so much, this....

Store front is complete trash now and i've stopped buying as many games because i can't get a quick look or idea of what the game is like for the ones i've never played before...how hard is it to put images back in?

[baboon_overlord]

Thanks Quinck. It's an almighty clusterfurk.

 

Quote

Edit: Btw you can change region on the bottom of the store page in the browser. 

 

Thank you for the advice, but the Store isn't the issue. Thank God that still works as expected or I would be completely screwed.

 

Things like this are the issue: https://my.playstation.com/

 

This is all in French and it's impossible to log in.

 

This is the email link I was sent from the UK Store (when I arrive on thepage) https://www.playstation.com/fr-fr/ps-plus/this-month-on-ps-plus/?et_cid=em_426973&et_rid=77429227&Linkid=210127-WKLSNL04-GL-STR-B-WES&emcid=em-st-270268

 

You will also notice that this is now where you can renew your PS+ subscription, so it's now impossible for me to renew from the web-store as if I add an extension to my basket (even if I have games in there) it now re-routes me to the French site.

 

I guess this could be Brexit related but I seriously doubt it. I think this will be the same problem for anyone living in a different country to their PSStore country. 

 

Quote

Try using the PS app instead of the browser store. Might fix your issues. 

 

The only reason I wanted to use my.playstation.com was to message people from my laptop, since I can type at 130 WPM, whereas typing on a PS controller takes me ages.

 

This whole thing just makes me nervous that they'll start doing the same thing to the actual PS devices themselves, in which case my consoles will be unusable if I want to sign in.

[PS_Bowser]

29 minutes ago, baboon_overlord said:

In addition to making their entire web-based store a complete and utter broken mess (in a move no-one asked for) the geniuses have now randomly decided that anything outside of the Store (my.playstation.com, email links, PS+ extensions, support chat) must now automatically redirect to the country site for your IP address.

 

As I live in France, that means I cannot use my.playstation.com at all (even if I wanted to use the site in French, which is doable, I can't login because my credentials aren't set up for that sub-region).

 

Just got an email with next month's PS+ games - Control, Concrete Genie, Destruction Allstars. Click link. Nope! French version of course dummy!

 

Tried to renew PS+ last night. Redirected to French version of the site. Impossible to renew via web.Had to do it via the PS4 instead.

 

Tried to get hold of customer support via live chat to tell them this is stupid (yes I know, that's not going to do anything) but (and you will never guess what happened next) - You cannot use this support chat because you are outside the UK and Ireland!

 

If I wasn't logged in and was unable to use the UK store, then that would be one thing. But I'm literally logged in. And can use the UK web-store no issues (for now).

 

What are Sony trying to do here? Are they just complete brain dead idiots? Do they suddenly think that no-one ever leaves their country and goes somewhere else? This was never a problem before. I do not have this issue with any other website (except maybe some crappy news sites but who cares about them anyway).

 

Seriously Sony, sought this out. Either your IT team is completely incompetent or they don't care. I don't actually know which is worse.

 

INB4 use a VPN. Yes, I would love to spend 25-50 euros a year for a UK IP address for the sole purpose of using the PS website with no problems like I have done for the past several years....  

I agree PS5 trophies don't show up on my.playstation site and the PSN web store is trash...I missing filtering by price...

[Alantor32]

Huh, I was able to renew my PS Plus membership through the PS App.

[Rias Gremory]

All I can say is that Sony trashed the old ps store and replaced it with a new PS Store.

[baboon_overlord]

10 minutes ago, Masamune said:

I agree the store & even the app are pretty much junk now. ? There are plenty of free VPNs out there though that you can use (I use Proton myself, free version gives you access to US, Netherlands, & Japan servers), even sites like https://www.4everproxy.com/ may work too if you don't want to go the full VPN route, just make sure to clear your cookies/cache before trying one of them or it may still send you to the wrong region.

 

Thanks Masamune, but that won't help. I need a proxy/VPN for the UK. I also have protonmail and their free VPN but the UK VPN isn't free. The issue is that the support, my.playstation, email links, PS+ renewal (probably more) now forward you to the store of your countries IP. So if I had a US IP, I still wouldn't be able to use anything as it seems everything is locked to a subregion for accounts.

 

Try using an IP for another country via proxy/VPN and go to https://my.playstation.com/ - if your experience is anything like mine it will just go round in circles in an infinite loop and never let you log in.

[Alantor32]

Have you tried contacting Sony Support about this?

[baboon_overlord]

3 minutes ago, Alantor32 said:

Huh, I was able to renew my PS Plus membership through the PS App.

 

OK looks like the app works for me in France for PS+ renewals, so it appears it's just the website that is a problem.

 

Quote

Sony need to fire their web development team

 

I guess the mobile dev team is safe...for now. ☺️

[Quink666]

5 minutes ago, PS_Bowser said:

I agree PS5 trophies don't show up on my.playstation site and the PSN web store is trash...I missing filtering by price...

oohh yeah you can’t filter anymore. You also can only watch one page when clicking the “new games”. I used to check that out every now and then to see what new games had released. Now I can only see like the last 2-3 weeks instead of several months. 
 

Another annoying thing is when you check sales you can’t see the number of games in the sale like you could do before. You have no idea if it’s 50 or 500 games in the sale. 
 

Old store was superior in almost every way. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.  

[baboon_overlord]

10 minutes ago, Alantor32 said:

Have you tried contacting Sony Support about this?

 

Well, as I said in OP, couldn't even contact the support chat like I used to be able to because I am not in the UK/Ireland, which is kind of the whole point of this thread.

 

Sent an email a week ago and nothing. Honestly, in this day and age when it comes to big corporations trying to get the peons to do anything is impossible. Even when the person you are talking to 100% agrees that you are correct and something should be done to change a situation, they tacitly acknowledge that there is no mechanism for them to articulate to higher-ups, even if they think you are in the right.

 

I work in IT. I regularly report bugs, suggestions for site improvements, ways things could be improved and it always goes nowhere. It's a complete waste of time. If you do it with smaller companies they often implement your suggestions, but for faceless corporations like Sony? Never going to happen.

 

It's why I hate multi-nationals. I've been headhunted for a few high level jobs by some of these companies in the past and I always tell them "not only no but hell no". 

 

I've worked with many of the companies as partners/suppliers over the years and I know how they work. The best people leave and the unproductive cretins get all the promotions. This has been known for at least two decades and dozens of books have been written on the subject.

 

My favorite was Yahoo! I went to visit their offices in London and couldn't enter until I filled out an End User License Agreement. I'm not even joking. ?  

Edited January 28, 2021 by baboon_overlord

[Alantor32]

Hmm, then I doubt I can help you with your problems with my.playstation.com since I can use it just fine.

[baboon_overlord]

3 minutes ago, Alantor32 said:

Hmm, then I doubt I can help you with your problems with my.playstation.com since I can use it just fine.

 

Thanks Alantor. Do you live in the country that your PSN account is registered to? PSN says your account is United States. Are you in the US right now?

[SnowNinjaRaccoon]

At this point finding a cure for cancer might be easier than finding something you are searching for on the webstore. I always used webstore cause the store on the console itself was a mess but now it makes no difference.

[Trini]

I'm honestly quite baffled by the shitty decisions Sony has been making lately; they probably never heard the term if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[baboon_overlord]

47 minutes ago, Helyx said:

They should hire @HusKy & @NathanielJohn.

 

That would get my vote, my friend.

[GUDGER666]

I have non of these issues, just tried my Japanese, German and US account with no issues. Loads of free vpns. I really don't see this as big issues, just seems like you're making a big fuss over nothing. 

Edited January 28, 2021 by GUDGER666

[Alantor32]

17 minutes ago, baboon_overlord said:

 

Thanks Alantor. Do you live in the country that your PSN account is registered to? PSN says your account is United States. Are you in the US right now?

I was born and raised in the US. So yes, I am in the US.

[baboon_overlord]

7 minutes ago, GUDGER666 said:

I have non of these issues, just tried my Japanese, German and US account with no issues. Loads of free vpsn. I really don't see this as big issues, just seems like you're making a big fuss over nothing. 

 

No mate, I can assure you this is causing me quite a lot of headaches. There is nothing more irritating than going to a website and being perma-redirected to another country's website, because there is no way of getting around it.

 

I can't even use the UK support now because it's now sub-region locked despite me being logged in.

 

 And I've already stated that all UK VPNs are classed as "premium". Which means to use PS services like I have always been able to will cost me between 25 euros (for a crappy VPN) and 50 euros (for a good VPN) per year JUST to use PS services like I could before.

 

I'm British. My PSN is UK. I live in France. I have never had this issue before. I'm not making a big fuss over nothing. How would you like it if all of a sudden many of your services were unusable because they suddenly redirected you to French versions of the site that you can't even log into? You wouldn't. And that's what's happening to me. And I know this must be affecting a lot of other people as well.

 

You haven't offered anything of value, and your passive aggressive tone is extremely unhelpful. Did you even read the OP?

 

 

4 minutes ago, Alantor32 said:

I was born and raised in the US. So yes, I am in the US.

 

Thanks Alantor. The problem is I am British. My PSN is for the UK. I live in France. Now, the latest updates mean that many of the services I use are now unusable because many things are now auto-redirecting to the French versions of the site. 

 

I know that my.playstation.com works. It is just impossible for me to use it now. 

 

The website has now been broken so if you aren't in your sub-region, you cannot use the services that used to work before.

 

It would be like you suddenly being redirected to the Mexican version of various parts of the PS website and unable to log in. It's ridiculous that they have done this. 

[Honor_Hand]

Oh, the new PS store is pretty poorly optimized and thought out, that's a given. There's no discussion about that. I've been having my fair number of issues as well with it. What gets me the most from it is how little information you're given on any given product when browsing. The design itself is dreadful and very counter-intuitive to navigate too, at least in my opinion.

 

Anyways, in regards to the problem you're having. My PSN account is in the US and whenever I try to access it from a search engine (say, Google), I always get sent to PSN Spain. What I do to avoid this is simply search specifically for the US site and then bookmark it to access directly without having to search for it. In regards to the emails, well I never receive any promotional emails from Sony and my.playstation.com is not something I use, so I'm not sure how I could help you out on that. In regards to their support chat, I had a talk with them about a month or two ago for a refund. I thought I'd have to use a VPN to get in contact with them because I'm in Latin America (Venezuela, specifically), but no, that wasn't the case. I got in contact via text chat with a representative in the US and the guy was super helpful in solving out my problem.

 

Bookmarking the site should solve the issue for you. Whenever I access PlayStation services from that link, I always get sent to the appropriate US site. Also, make sure to log in so that your PC or whatever device you're using can store the cookies for this site. You may want to clear your old cookies before doing this.

 

If you're still having issues with the site redirecting you to a version of the store that you don't want to use, I'd second @Masamune's suggestions in regards to the VPN. You can usually unlock most sites with them and have them show the information you want for any specific region. The easiest one I could recommend is getting one that acts as an add-on for any of your browsers. In my case, I use Hoxx VPN on Firefox (I think it is also available on Chrome). Plenty of well-known countries can be used for free, including the UK. Alternatively, one other good VPN I can recommend is SoftEther VPN. It was developed as a project from the University of Tsukuba, Japan. It's free, open-source software that works extremely well. It has proved its worth to me where other VPNs have failed (including the paid ones), the only downside is that it does require a bit of tinkering to set up, and the availability of public IPs you can connect varies over the day.

 

Let me know if works for you or if there's anything else I can do to help you out. Cheers! =)

 

[Bloodytears1666]

Like Playstation ever had an adequate browser for the web. I think they need to start hiring a team first.